Japanese Comic Books

One main term that refers to Japanese comic books is 'manga'. This word means cartoons in printed form. This form of art has existed in Japan for hundreds of years and while some of the modern comics are taken from the comics published in North American, their main feature still consists of simple lines and stylized features. In fact, China has had more of an influence on comics in Japan that North America has had.

Japanese comic books are available in all kinds of genre. They were not just developed for children, and while they do include children's comics there are many erotic comics and comics for drug addicts and juvenile delinquents. Even the children's comic books depict death, but they usually have pictures of students in school or people at work. Work ethic and technology, so important in Japanese society, is ever present in the comic books.

There are many variations of the style of the characters in Japanese comic books. Some characters have outlandish hair and huge eyes, while others are downright ugly. There is no superhero, as such, and the characters do not wear skin tight costumes, but rather they seem to wear looser, more comfortable clothing. These comic books are more in the style of graphic novels with a complete plot and character development.

Many of the popular Japanese comic books are Doraemon, Ranma ½ and Kimagure Orange Road. These comics follow the lives of ordinary people as they go about their daily lives with work and chores. The children go to school, get scolded by their parents, but seem to have an otherworldly quality to them. This allows readers to empathize with the characters by recognizing things they do themselves, but still get lost in a fantasy world when they are reading. The bad characters are also portrayed as ordinary people with goals, hopes and dreams.